The famous, radical study
LAING, R.D. and A. ESTERSON. Sanity, Madness and the Family. London: Tavistock Publications. 1964.
8vo. Original black cloth, title lettered in silver to spine, upper edge stained lilac, with original brown dust jacket with white lettering; pp. xii, 272; minimal rubbing to spine ends, small flaws to extremities of jacket; near fine.
Second edition, inscribed by Laing “To Mike/From Ronnie/July 1970” to the front free endpaper.
Sanity, Madness and the Family (1964), co-authored with Aaron Esterson, examines the lives of eleven young women diagnosed with schizophrenia, focusing on the complex dynamics within their families. At the time of publication, it was the only major study to explore schizophrenia through detailed case studies of family life. Its implicit suggestion that parental behaviour might contribute to the onset of psychosis provoked intense controversy and professional backlash. The dominant view then, as now, was that schizophrenia should be treated as a primarily medical condition. Despite – or because of – its controversy, Sanity, Madness and the Family remains a landmark in psychiatric literature.
SKU: 2121253